Reminiscence
by someoneudontknow5
Summary: All the boys from Mineral Town are odd in their own kind of way. Find out the cause behind their peculiar behaviors. Oneshot.


**You know the drill. You read, then you review ^^**

**Disclaimer...: I do NOT own Harvest Moon, how many times must I repeat it??**

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Rick had always what people called an obsessive-big-brother syndrome.

The blond had always had a caring personality and everyone just assumed that his father's brutal departure had been the trigger of his rather odd behavior.

They were right. Partially.

What they didn't know, that the real harsh trigger was something of much less importance. It happened pretty soon after their dad left. Rick was holding his sister's hand, they were walking on the rocky mountain path.

Everything was fine, until Popuri slipped. She didn't fall down, but still, almost. In that split second where Popuri's hand was not completely safe in his own, a sheer feeling of panic overtook Rick.

The guilt about almost letting her fall built up in him. After a while, he decided he would just always be by her side and always protect her.

Rick's behavior didn't change right away, it was slowly over time. Every time Popuri got hurt, was sick or even felt depressed, the resolution became stronger in Rick's mind. Never again would he let his little sister get hurt. Nothing would come within five feet of her if he hadn't checked it first.

The mental resolution was so strong and planted so deep within him that Rick didn't notice when his habits became a bit...too much.

Neither did he notice when Popuri became a woman who could take care of herself. No, for Rick, she was still a little girl, and he needed to hold her hand tightly.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

For everyone, Gray was an anti-social boy with absolutely no idea about human feelings. He would never feel anything, never see or hear anything.

Gray closed up and locked his heart away a long time ago. Back in the days where he was an innocent boy, when he let people in his heart.

Back when he had a happy family. A mother, father and an older brother.

That was before the fighting started.

Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he could still hear them. Their voices. The yelling. He could still see them.

All of it leading up to that day. Where his father left. With no explanation, without a word to his son. He just went away, never to be heard from again.

He didn't leave alone. Will, his older brother, left with his father.

The day was still clear in his mind, even if he had been a young boy at the time.

"Will! I don't want you to go! I'll miss you!"

"But I won't."

A double slap in the face.

After the incident, Gray clung to his mother as hard as he could. He didn't want to lose her either.

Pretty soon, his desperate mother had to send him away. She sent him to far away Mineral Town.

The sting of this new betrayal was even worse than the one before. To be considered a burden by the person you admired the most was excruciatingly painful. However untrue it was.

That's when Gray realized it. Letting people in your heart hurt. Therefor, Gray retreated far into himself and cast the indifferent shell.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kai. Summer.

In Mineral Town, those words were always close together. One could not imagine one without the other.

Kai was the ladies man. The chef. He was really like the wind. He would come and it would be a fresh breeze in the world.

But you cannot capture the wind. As soon as you would try to close your fingers around it, it would slip out, laughing all the way. It could bring little moments of euphoria, but pretty soon, it would be gone. Always lasting so shortly, so ephemeral.

Because, Kai had learned a long time ago that you better live for the moment. Live for the "now" as you could never know what would happen tomorrow. Foundations built strongly over time could turn out to be a complete waste of time, they could crumble within a second. Kai's world could crumble also, but, doesn't the impact hurt less the closer to the ground you are?

Every time he had tried to build something, it would fall, hurting him deeply. Recovery was slow and it would always leave a scar.

That's why he hated winter. In winter, when all sounds and distractions were muffled out. Then, you had time. Time to talk. To build. To learn.

Deep down, he did wish to be able to enjoy the winter. But... but he had learned and he would never do the same mistakes again.

That's why Kai would go around the world, never planting any roots, never staying for winter. Because Kai was looking for his eternal summer.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Trent was a doctor, the only doctor of Mineral Town.

He was caring, understanding and had a most heart warming smile. But, he just didn't seem to be someone. He was the doctor. He would be there at nine am, sitting at his desk. At 4 pm, the Clinic would close. What did he do then? No one knew really...

The doctor just didn't seem to be alive. He was a hollow puppet with an eternal friendly smile painted on.

As a young boy, Trent had always been surrounded by this kind of behavior. Both of his parents were famous doctors and treated him just like any patient. In the beginning, Trent used to rebel, doing things to get their attention, in any way.

Year after year, it proved out to be completely pointless. His parents just accepted what he did with an empty smile or a slight disapproving frown.

Trent had sworn that he would never be like them. He still wanted to be a doctor, but not like them. He was going to be different.

In the beginning, things didn't turn out too well though. Until one day he tried to stop acting like a normal person. He put on the empty oh-so hated smile. The success was immediate. Everyone just seemed to trust him.

Ironic really. The person he had promised never to become was now what he was.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Cliff the young traveler.

Always looking down, always blushing, never opening up to anyone. Was it possible to be this shy?

Deep down, Cliff didn't feel worthy enough to talk with anyone. He had let the people closest to his heart down and they had paid for it, with their lives.

His mother and his sister had been his world. Always there for him. Two sunny faces that were now starting to blur in his mind.

Years of happiness in a little cottage in the mountain. Until the fire. Cliff could remember vividly standing outside, watching his home being destroyed by the dangerous flames. The fire burned throughout the whole night until nothing was left. Cliff just stood there, the shock slowly sinking in. His mother and sister had been inside, preparing a surprise birthday cake for him. A single careless spark had been enough to destroy everything he had.

When Cliff finally realized that they were gone, he turned around and ran.

And Cliff ran. For how long? He didn't know.

He was now in Mineral Town, spending his days praying for forgiveness.

But deep down, Cliff knew that he wasn't waiting for forgiveness from the Harvest Goddess. No. Cliff was waiting for the day where he would be able to forgive himself.

**_ _ _ _ _**

**So...? How was it?**

**Reviews please! **

**El: She forgot about me again...**


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